NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 30 – Mortgage company Housing Finance is taking part in this year’s Kenyan property exhibition to be held in London between July 31 and August 1.
The 2009 Exhibition dubbed ‘Invest in Africa; build Africa,’ brings together developers, mortgage providers, real estate agents, property managers, professional institutions and other major players in the real estate market.
Housing Finance Head of Mortgage Business David Maveke said Kenyans working abroad are now the country’s biggest source of foreign exchange earnings, and contribute substantially to the country’s property sector.
“Kenyan property exhibition is a premier investment fair that aims to bring together Kenyan businesses to the Diaspora, and thereby contributing to the development of the property sector,” said Mr Maveke.
This year, the estimated one million Kenyans living and working abroad are expected to send home Sh75 billion in remittances.
The inaugural exhibition in 2007 was attended by 15 exhibitors and over 600 investors from the Diaspora. In 2008 ‘Invest in Africa: Build Africa’ attracted 20 exhibitors and over 800 investors from the Diaspora.
The two-day exhibition in London will this year include an exhibition day in Paris, aimed at giving exhibitors access to the European market. Mr Maveke said the exhibition positions the country firmly as an investment destination both for Africans in the Diaspora as well as to international investors.
“Construction and property investment have been major vehicles that the Diaspora has used to invest in the country,” he said.
“We participated during the 2007 exhibition and we were overwhelmed by the interest shown by Diaspora investors, we were able to strike deals then and had a number of sales leads. The links have also generated interest within the Diaspora team and since then we have been hosting bus tours for Diaspora customers every December.”
He added that visitors to the HF stand will be able to get advice on investing in property in Kenya, to view properties on sale through the Property Point and also be introduced to the recently launched savings account – the Crossover Savings account.
For the third year running, the event is organised by Realken International in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing, Kenya and the High Commission of Kenya.
The event will be opened at a Dinner event on Friday by the Minister for Housing Soita Shitanda.
